Bellville, Cape TownJuly 23, 2018

Bellville was originally a wagon halt for farmers who wanted to bring their produce to Cape Town. At that time it was still known as 12 Mile Post, because it was (and still is) 12 miles from the Cape Town city centre. It also went by the name Hardekraaltje. It was renamed to Belleville in 1861, and later underwent a spelling change to the current spelling in 1904. Situated in the Northern suburbs of Cape Town, Bellville hosts an array of monuments, businesses and suburbs.

In terms of property, Bellville contains reasonably priced properties and is well located. It is accessible via the N1, and is also accessible via all modes of public transport. As more people are looking for more affordable housing in Cape Town, there has been an increase in demand for property in Bellville. As a result, it experienced a 13.3% year on year price growth in Q4 2017 (FNB). This has partly been due to the increased search for relative affordability; as rental prices in most suburbs in Cape Town continue to soar. However, although there has been a noticeable decrease in price growth in the more affluent suburbs over the past year or so, the more affordable ones, such as Bellville have shown exponential growth. Due to the fact that the majority of the population in Bellville has stayed in their homes for numerous years and is generally an older population, they are reluctant to sell their properties, once again increasing the demands, whilst the supply of new property on the market has been slow.